Long before Dennett, Dawkins, Grayling and others there was . . .

Darwin, Dennett, grayling, humanism, Ludwig Büchner, materialism, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, richard dawkins, Thomas Huxley

Ludwig Büchner. According to Wikipedia:

The extreme materialism of this work excited so much opposition that he was compelled to give up his post at Tübingen.